Red Slips Going Out Feb. 1st For Property Taxes

Habersham Co. - Anyone who has not paid their property taxes will likely find a red slip coming their way Saturday, Feb. 1.

Habersham County Tax Commissioner June Black-Warren talks about how the past tax collection went.

“It went very well,” Black-Warren says.

Black-Warren goes on to say, “the first of Feb. we will send out late notices, saying you haven’t paid your taxes and we’re getting ready to sell your property.”

“After the first of March, we will file tax leans and then we will send those properties over to our tax sell company and will have the first tax sale in July,” Black-Warren says. “The ones that go to sale will be advertised in the newspaper four weeks prior to the sale and they will also be on our website.”

Anyone who hasn’t paid their property taxes can still do so today, Friday, Jan. 31.

“As people pay, which they can pay up until the day we sell it. There are just additional costs,” Black-Warren says. “So they can pay up until the day it goes it goes to sale and as they pay we will remove those people from the tax sale list.”

Additional costs include the interest and a post-90-day penalty. “On March first we will have the sale fee,” Black-Warren says. She goes on to say total costs average an “additional 300 dollars per partial.”

Black-Warren notes that the best thing late payers can do at this time is to pay their taxes.

“Bills went out in Aug. If they had an issue they could’ve started paying them a little bit in Aug. and keep on going,” Black-Warren says. “At this point, if they would’ve been doing that, if they owed anything, it wouldn’t be much and it would show that at least they were trying.”

Black-Warren goes on, saying “At this point, if they haven’t paid anything, it looks like they don’t care. Sometimes that’s not the case. There’s going to be special circumstances where it’s like okay, you’re normally not late. I can see your payment history. We’re going to work with those people.”

For those who may struggle with a single, lump payment, Black-Warren suggests what she calls the envelope system.

“Every month they put a little bit in that envelop, so when it comes time to pay their taxes they’re ready,” Black-Warren says. “This is not a surprise, it comes every year.”

Black-Warren wants anyone who may be struggling to pay their taxes to communicate.

“Communicate with us. If you have a problem, let’s try to work this out before it goes to sale,” she says. “We don’t want to sell anybody’s property. We’d rather you keep your property and there’s no reason for you not to but you’ve got to communicate.”

Habersham Weather

Subscribe

About Us

Known as "NewsTalk 94.3FM and AM1490," WCHM airs a blend of such national talk show hosts as Rush Limbaugh, Clark Howard, Glenn Beck, Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, and the Georgia Bulldogs along with local programming.